Insulating electric conductor.



No. 806,848. PATENTED DEC. 5, 1905.

1 L KITSBE.

INSULATING ELECTRIC CONDUGTORS.

APPLICATION FILED APR:17.1902.

WITNESSES INVENTOR UNITED STATES PATENT ()FFICE.

INSULATING ELECTRIC CONDUCTOR.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 5, 1905.

Application filed April 17, 1902. Serial No. 103,433.

T0 aZZ whmn it may concern:

Be it known that I, ISIDOR KITsnE, of the city and county of Philadelphia, State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Insulating Electric Conductors, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to an improvement in insulating electric conductors and the process for same.

The object of my invention is to produce economically an insulating-covering for wires.

In later years attempts were made to substitute for the dear caoutchouc or gutta-percha a cheaper material consisting of amorphous cellulosethat is, a cellulose made soluble either through the nitrating or hydrating process and then dissolve with the aid of either alcohol and ether combined acetone, amyl acetate, or any of the well-known solvents. This insulation is mostly used as a very thin coating, so as to enable a comparatively large number of conductors to be assembled in a comparatively small space; but in the employment of dissolved cellulose as an insulator for electric wires the great difficulty arises that in coating the wire with a film of dissolved cellulose the evaporating of the solvent out of said dissolved cellulose leaves the film in a very porous condition. In this state the resistance value of the film is far less than the resistance value of the solid material produced under pressure. It is the aim of my invention to overcome this difficulty.

The points of novelty of this my invention will be designated in the claims concluding this specification, which contain a full description thereof, so as to enable others skilled in the art to which it pertains to practice the same.

In carrying out my invention I first produce rolls of tape of a material known in commerce as celluloid, celluloidin, or pyroxylin or any other suitable compound containing amorphous cellulose. These tapes are produced in substantially the same manner as the sheets of the above-named materials are produced to-day, and as the production of this material or sheets of same is old I do not lay claim to same, and therefore do not need to describe in detail their production. It suffices to state that in the manufacture of these sheets soluble cellulose, camphor,

Castor-oil, and the like are used and that with the aid of calenders under heavy pressure and preferably raised temperature this material is calendered to the required thickness into sheets of suitable dimensions, and it is obvious that instead of the usual size of sheets the material can be calendered into tapes of the necessary width and length. To insulate wires with these tapes, I carry the same through a bath capable of making the surface of the same adherent or preferably bring them in contact, as is illustrated in the drawings, with what I call moistening-rollers. I then embed the conductor between two of these tapes, at the same time compressing them so as to form of same one mechanical unit, so that they adhere to the embedded conductor and to each other. It is preferred that the conductor should also be made moist with the solvent, as experience has proven that if the conductor is entirely dry the slightly-moistened surface of the tape is not always sufiicient to insure a good adherent contact with the metal. After the union between the two tapes has been established and the conductor has been firmly surrounded by the same it is best to cut the surplus edges of the tapes away, so that the same shall present a tubular appearance if the conductor is in the shape of a wire. I

Referring to the drawings, Figure 1 is a vertical longitudinal section of the preferred apparatus for carrying out my invention. Fig. 2 is a detail plan view showing a pair of compressing-rollers in the act of embedding a conducting-wire between two tapes of amorphous cellulose and compressing the edges of same.

A is a receptacle; B, the solvent contained therein; C, the reel of wire; D, the wire as such; E, the reels of tape of amorphous cellulose; Gr, the moistening-rollers, of which 9 represents guides; g represents guide-rollers;

H, the compressing-rollers, of which it is the V and provided with a surface capable of retaining some of this fluid and transferring the same onto one surface of the tape as it passes through these rollers, thereby making this surface moist and adherent.

The reel of wire is by preference placed in the solvent so as to thoroughly moisten the same, as it Was found by experience that the surface of the metal if left for a period in the solvent becomes thereby better prepared to receive the adherent layer of amorphous cellulose.

Vith the aid of suitable means, such as are Well understood in the art, the Wire and the tapes are brought in contact with each other, and with the aid of What I call compressingrollers, preferably as illustrated in the drawings in Fig. 2, the two tapes are tightly compressed around the wire and united on the free edges, so as to form mechanically one continuous envelop around the inclosed conductor. After the partial drying of the insulator the edges are then trimmed in the manner Well understood in the art.

I have not illustrated the means for carrying the wire and insulation so as to bring them close together; but they may consist of guide-rollers, and I have also not illustrated the manner of cutting away the edges, as this part is Well understood and the mechanism of same may differ without departing from the scope of my invention.

I do not limit myself to tapes or strips of amorphous cellulose alone, as my invention is applicable to strips of amorphous cellulose combined with any suitable material.

Having now described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The process of producing insulated wires which consists in first carrying the wire to be insulated and a strip or strips of amorphous cellulose through a bath adapted to moisten said wire and said strips with a solvent for said cellulose, and then carrying said wire and said strip or strips through compressingrollers, thereby inclosing said wire in said strip or strips.

2. The process of insulating electric wires with an amorphous-cellulose compound which consists in producing said compound in strips or tapes of the required dimensions, remoistening one surface of each of said strips, causing the wire to be inclosed between said strips, and uniting the same into one mechanical unit.

3. The process of insulating electric conductors with an amorphous-cellulose compound which consists in first carrying the wire to be insulated through means adapted to moisten said wire with a solvent of said amorphous cellulose, and then carrying said wire and a strip or strips of said cellulose through compressing means, thereby inclosing said wire insaid strip or strips and making the same adherent to said strips.

In testimony whereof I hereby sign my name this 12th day of April, 1902.

ISIDOR KITSEE.

\Vitnesses:

EDITH R. STILLEY, CHAS. Knnssnnnuen. 

